LAGOS, Aug 26 – MTN Group is exploring banking licences in selected African markets as Africa’s largest telecoms operator seeks to expand its lending business and generate new growth from financial technology services.
Chief Executive Officer Ralph Mupita said the company is assessing markets where it has large customer bases and substantial funds held in mobile money wallets. Obtaining banking licences in selected jurisdictions could allow MTN to take deposits and eventually lend directly from its own balance sheet.
“We’re seeing good growth on advanced services, which are our future-proof services,” Mupita told journalists, referring to services including payments, e-commerce and lending. “The big growth now, which will be the growth of the future, is actually lending.”
MTN currently provides loans through partnerships with financial institutions. Under a potential banking model, the company could retain those partnerships while gradually adding lending funded from its own balance sheet.
“We’re beginning to explore, where it makes sense and where there are large customer bases (and) significant floats in wallets, whether it may make sense to have some sort of banking licence that enables us to take deposits,” Mupita said. “As such, we will then be lending over time off our own balance sheet. But also, it doesn’t mean we won’t do any partnership lending.”
The strategy is expected to be selective rather than applied across MTN’s entire footprint. Mupita said any transition towards balance-sheet lending would take place gradually, reflecting the additional financial and credit risks associated with operating a banking business.
The move underscores the growing importance of fintech to MTN as the company looks to diversify beyond traditional telecommunications revenues. Its mobile money operations provide an established customer base and digital wallet infrastructure that can support services ranging from payments to credit.
MTN is also expanding its ambitions in digital infrastructure, with plans to develop AI-enabled data centres in South Africa and Nigeria through Africa Data Hub Holding.
The venture, established with an undisclosed UAE-backed investor, is intended to develop data centre infrastructure capable of supporting artificial intelligence workloads across major African markets. MTN will hold a minority stake, while its partner is expected to provide most of the capital and technical expertise.
The initial development programme is expected to target approximately 150 megawatts of capacity across South Africa and Nigeria. Further expansion will depend on demand, Mupita said.
The data centre strategy reflects growing demand for computing infrastructure across Africa as businesses, governments and technology companies increase their use of cloud services and artificial intelligence. For MTN, the investment provides another avenue for participation in the continent’s expanding digital economy while complementing its telecommunications and fintech operations.
Together, the banking and data centre initiatives point to a broader shift in MTN’s strategy, with the company seeking to build businesses around its customer base, digital platforms and infrastructure rather than relying primarily on traditional connectivity revenues.
